Transplanting a sago palm (cycad) bare root

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It's March 4th and I am getting ready to plant my new sago palm (cycas revoluta). As you can see, it has about two feet of trunk, the bottom foot of which will be underground. It was dug up from a place where it had grown too big, and as you can see, very little of the roots came with it. This is not a problem for a sago palm. So I am going to treat it as if it were being planted "bare root", which is possible with all cycads.

What I am using is Rooting Powder (available at Home Depot) and Powdered Sulfur (not available at Home Depot, I got some yesterday at Summer Winds Nursery). What you want here is to get some strong root growth. A plant like this will live for years without any roots, but it won't grow without them. And I want to see some new leaves!

The planting hole itself has been ready for a week, but I have been waiting for the weather to warm up a bit. Planting in cold soil is a real mistake for a sago palm. Like cactus, your biggest worry is that the plant will rot in the planting hole.


Here you can see I have applied the sulfur and the rooting hormone powder. This plant has been out of the ground for a couple of months and its roots won't start growing until summertime, so it's important to do this to ensure that the bottom of the trunk, and the root stubs, won't rot. The planting hole, by the way, is filled with volcanic pumice (which I get here in the Phoenix area at Baker Nusery) and potting mix. All of the native soil was taken out and set aside. Putting a plant like this in heavy clay soil is certain death! If you're in a hurry, this isn't for you, and if you are paying someone to do this, and do it right, this is why it would cost so much.


And it's in the hole. As you can see by the shadows, it's just starting to go into shade now. I started this about an hour ago, in the cool of the morning. As the day warms up, it will be nice to be able to go back into the shade and do some of the final cleanup. By the way, there is no need to water it - it has no roots. When you see new growth coming up from the "pucker" on top, that is the time to water it. I am hoping to see some new growth by this summer, but it will probably take another season to establish. I will let you know!

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